Fish, Part 1

It's been five days since I setup the new tank. I finally ditched the old 20 gallon tank and wrought iron stand. It was time to go to a larger tank and a new stand.

I had been looking for a new stand for awhile. I didn't want one of those typical fish stands that looked like a cabinet made from pressed board. I wanted something that would fit with the furniture in the living and dining rooms. I found what I wanted at Petsmart - a solid wood stand in a dark brown, almost black stain. The stand has a bottom shelf and looks, well, like a piece of furniture. It was very easy to assemble and is solid.

Next was buying the tank. I was originally looking at just getting a tank and canopy, but in the end I wound up buying a starter kit - a Waterhome 25. The kit came with a filter, heater, net, food, two fake plants, and a canopy with a fluorescent light.

What attracted me to the Waterhome was the canopy. It has a very complete and sleek look. It is designed to 'catch' as much water evaporation as possible. It also blocks out light from escaping the top. Further, the entire canopy comes off making access to the tank straightforward and easy. The filter is an AquaClear 50 - your run of the mill external filter. I reused the heater from my old tank keeping the new heater as a future replacement.

Instead of the usual plastic large gravel, I purchased some substrate (a creamy beige colored small grain gravel) that was different from anything I had used in the past. I reused some of the plants and decorations from the old tank.

Setup of the new tank went without a hitch. The three Black Skirt Tetras are enjoying the larger 25 gallon tank to themselves - they each seem to have their own area of the tank and they are hanging behind the plants. The filter is functioning and the new tank 'fishy' smell is almost gone.

The tank looks good and people are noticing it as they enter the house. The next steps include more fish, a background, adding more substrate and a new decoration. In the long run, I may get an automated feeder (there is one model that fits into a cavity in the canopy).

Posted by Adam